Antonio Conte concedes Chelsea's 3-1 win at Manchester City could have turned out very differently had former employee Kevin De Bruyne not missed a second-half sitter.

An own goal from Gary Cahill saw City go 1-0 up shortly before the interval, but that lead should have been doubled when the ball came to De Bruyne inside the six-yard box, only for the Belgian to somehow strike his effort against the crossbar.

Chelsea made the most of that let-off, with Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard completing a superb comeback, before Sergio Aguero and Fernadinho saw red for the hosts in stoppage time.

"It is a big win and a big result against a really strong team," Conte told Chelsea TV.

"With the quality of players in their squad, I think City are the most complete team in this league. For this reason, I am pleased with the result, and with the players. They showed great character.

"We were lucky at the start of the second half because there was one crossbar and also a good save from Thibaut [Courtois] that kept the score at 1-0.

"Then we found great strength to score the goal to equalise and then to score the second and the third goal.

"It is fantastic because I repeat, it is not easy to come here and win this game.

"Now we have to continue. We are playing good football, we have confidence, but it is important to continue to work and improve. There is room to improve."

The victory took Premier League leaders Chelsea four points clear of City.